Remember that Kroenke got rid of pretty much all the best and highest paid players on his other sport teams.

Carmelo Anthony- Nuggets... gone

Van Persie-Arsenal...gone

Is it coincident, or Kroenke is all about spending less and trying to get more out of his teams? Maybe the guy is just a cheap ass rich businessman pinching every penny.

I'm surprised Stastny is still in Colorado, which i think would be smart to get rid of Stastny and his big contract because the guy just doesn't play like a 6.6 mill player. But i stay strong to my opinion and i really think Stastny is still in Denver because of his father Peter Stastny. The guy is living off his father's reputation otherwise Kroenke wouldn't hesitate to get rid of that 6.6 mill contract.

You saw the teams we had in the late 90's-early 2000's right? If the team is within reach of a championship, he'll spend money. I think the Avs are just sticking to their guns and relying on the youth they are developing. You can call is being stubborn, too patient, cheap, etc... it's the path they are choosing.

On Staz, I agree his contract may be too high. But wow, you make it sound like he doesn't do anything. The problem is fans expect more out of him because of his name.

I'm surprised Stastny is still in Colorado, which i think would be smart to get rid of Stastny and his big contract because the guy just doesn't play like a 6.6 mill player. But i stay strong to my opinion and i really think Stastny is still in Denver because of his father Peter Stastny. The guy is living off his father's reputation otherwise Kroenke wouldn't hesitate to get rid of that 6.6 mill contract.

And how would Kroenke do that? Stastny's still being in Colorado likely has nothing on earth to do with his father. He's basically a 60 point player making $6.6M per season. What team would saddle themselves with such a contract with 2, 3, 4 years remaining in it? Heck, or even 1 year remaining in it?

Stastny will be imminently tradeable at next year's trade deadline. Likely not before. And the Avs had set themselves up perfectly for it, with the drafting and development of Duchene and O'Reilly.

And how would Kroenke do that? Stastny's still being in Colorado likely has nothing on earth to do with his father. He's basically a 60 point player making $6.6M per season. What team would saddle themselves with such a contract with 2, 3, 4 years remaining in it? Heck, or even 1 year remaining in it?

Stastny will be imminently tradeable at next year's trade deadline. Likely not before. And the Avs had set themselves up perfectly for it, with the drafting and development of Duchene and O'Reilly.

Alas...

A possible scenarios with Stastny , IF Québec is back in the NHL , is that he could be a good trade bait for them . The name Statsny is famous in Québec and from a PR and marchandise POV it could be huge for them . I could see them willing to overpay in a trade just to get him over there ... Of course i'm taking for granted that they get a teams b4 the end of his ridiculous contract . Or like someone else said b4 , if he does hit the UFA market , i see him playing with St-Louis and light the lamp with the Blues .

A possible scenarios with Stastny , IF Québec is back in the NHL , is that he could be a good trade bait for them . The name Statsny is famous in Québec and from a PR and marchandise POV it could be huge for them . I could see them willing to overpay in a trade just to get him over there ... Of course i'm taking for granted that they get a teams b4 the end of his ridiculous contract . Or like someone else said b4 , if he does hit the UFA market , i see him playing with St-Louis and light the lamp with the Blues .

So sick and tired of this guy constantly trying to sit on leads. He gets more conservative than John Fox in the 4th quarter, and that's saying something. I don't care how bad this team might be, you do NOT play not to lose.

So sick and tired of this guy constantly trying to sit on leads. He gets more conservative than John Fox in the 4th quarter, and that's saying something. I don't care how bad this team might be, you do NOT play not to lose.

As critical I am of Sacco, I don't know if this is necessarily his preference. I think he talks about the idea of not sitting on a lead, and trying to play on your toes with the lead, but I don't think he knows how to sell it. That's my biggest problem with him.

All coaches generally have the same idea of the right and wrong approaches to the game, it's their ability to get the team to believe it, and to play the right way that should be judged. It's really a results oriented kind of thing for coaches after a certain point. One of the few areas in life or sports where that actually matters.

4-on-3 penalty kill in overtime tonight against the Sharks. 6'4", 235 pounds of Joe Thornton is prowling the front of the net and which defensemen do you see on the ice for Colorado?

5'11", 198 pound Greg Zanon and 5'11", 193 pound Matt Hunwick.

It's no surprise that they couldn't contain Thornton and he was a highlight-reel glove save from Semyon Varlamov away from winning the game.

Not to mention broke up their most successful pairing in Hejda-Barrie so that O'Brien could play with Barrie early in the game! The young Barrie finally finds his game playing with Hejda, who's also finally found his game, and you break them up. That's just plain dumb.

Not to mention broke up their most successful pairing in Hejda-Barrie so that O'Brien could play with Barrie early in the game! The young Barrie finally finds his game playing with Hejda, who's also finally found his game, and you break them up. That's just plain dumb.

Is it really when you think about it for a sec?

1. Sacco is under pressure to start winning games. When he put them together we were behind one goal so maybe he is just trying to put together a more offensive D pair to create more offense, and

2. It gives the Avs a chance to see how Barrie reacts to playing with somebody else than Hejda. Can Barrie have chemistry with somebody else or does he feel comfortable only with Hejda?

If it was for reason #2, I'd say Barrie reacted very well to the situation.

1. Sacco is under pressure to start winning games. When he put them together we were behind one goal so maybe he is just trying to put together a more offensive D pair to create more offense, and

2. It gives the Avs a chance to see how Barrie reacts to playing with somebody else than Hejda. Can Barrie have chemistry with somebody else or does he feel comfortable only with Hejda?

If it was for reason #2, I'd say Barrie reacted very well to the situation.

I did think about it and it's still dumb.

He played with O'Brien early in the year, and neither one of them were any good. Pretty much when EJ went down, and Barrie finally started to shine he's been with Hejda.

Why break that up? Instead of letting Barrie continue to be the puck carrier and do what he's been doing well the last few games, now he's partnered with a guy much worse defensively than Hejda, and also a guy who wants to play Bobby Orr all the time himself.

When a kid like Barrie finally starts feeling comfortable you don't start testing him to see if he'll be comfortable with someone else and risk getting him out of rhythm. You keep his confidence high, and keep him in a position to succeed rather than fail.

It was as terrible idea, and it clearly didn't work. Let Orr'Brien play with a defensive guy to cover his ass, and keep Barrie clicking on the teams best D pairing.

He played with O'Brien early in the year, and neither one of them were any good. Pretty much when EJ went down, and Barrie finally started to shine he's been with Hejda.

Why break that up? Instead of letting Barrie continue to be the puck carrier and do what he's been doing well the last few games, now he's partnered with a guy much worse defensively than Hejda, and also a guy who wants to play Bobby Orr all the time himself.

When a kid like Barrie finally starts feeling comfortable you don't start testing him to see if he'll be comfortable with someone else and risk getting him out of rhythm. You keep his confidence high, and keep him in a position to succeed rather than fail.

It was as terrible idea, and it clearly didn't work. Let Orr'Brien play with a defensive guy to cover his ass, and keep Barrie clicking on the teams best D pairing.

Yeah but as you said it was earlier in the year. Barrie didn't have a lot of confidence at the time. I'm not saying it was the right thing to do. Just saying it gives Sacco a different look at Barrie. I for one was happy to see he could still be the same player with somebody else.

Yeah but as you said it was earlier in the year. Barrie didn't have a lot of confidence at the time. I'm not saying it was the right thing to do. Just saying it gives Sacco a different look at Barrie. I for one was happy to see he could still be the same player with somebody else.

I didn't think he looked nearly as good as he did before. He didn't have enough time with the puck. Orr'Brien was trying to carry the puck the whole time. If Barrie's not making plays with the puck, he's not adding a whole lot to the team at this point.

I didn't think he looked nearly as good as he did before. He didn't have enough time with the puck. Orr'Brien was trying to carry the puck the whole time. If Barrie's not making plays with the puck, he's not adding a whole lot to the team at this point.

Agree with your second point but disagree on the first. I thought Barrie still looked very good. he was still very effective with the puck.

Question. Do we currently need something changed about this team, and fast? If the answer is yes, you all know where the finger should be pointed.

That includes Sacco being replaced.

What we get, whilst Gagne, Ruff and others get moved around the NHL is procrastination. Why does every season have to be well and truly dead and buried before any even remotely meaningful occurs.

The guy (Sherman) is slow on the uptake.

Also, those comparing us to Edmonton are setting themselves up for a world of disappointment. Schultz, Hall, Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, Yakupov, Gagner etc, backed up with guys like Horcoff, Smyth & others is a far cry from us right now.

In 2-3 years time, I could see them exploding (maybe not able to fit everyone IN their cap). With us, I have serious doubts considering our ownership, management and coaching.

Nah, Sacco's done good getting youngins up to NHL speed, and he's a tanking ninja. We should keep him around until after the season when the available coaching pool will be just as strong, assuming this organization is capable of going out and finding a coach, and we'll have more time to find the right coach who'll have time to set the team up the way they want it.

Then with a new coach and a shiny new draft pick, we make the Radar trade and go into next season strong with

with a top pick mixed in somewhere, probably a forward who takes over on the wing opposite Landy or pushes Sgar out to the wing on the third line. If we actually got a good coach that's a team ready to take the next step that could have real SC potential depending on how that pick and ROR trade work out. That still has a few chips to play to put the finishing touches on it.

Question. Do we currently need something changed about this team, and fast? If the answer is yes, you all know where the finger should be pointed.

That includes Sacco being replaced.

What we get, whilst Gagne, Ruff and others get moved around the NHL is procrastination. Why does every season have to be well and truly dead and buried before any even remotely meaningful occurs.

The guy (Sherman) is slow on the uptake.

Also, those comparing us to Edmonton are setting themselves up for a world of disappointment. Schultz, Hall, Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, Yakupov, Gagner etc, backed up with guys like Horcoff, Smyth & others is a far cry from us right now.

In 2-3 years time, I could see them exploding (maybe not able to fit everyone IN their cap). With us, I have serious doubts considering our ownership, management and coaching.

The Avalanche have center Ryan O'Reilly back in the fold (AP)
Great news! The Avalanche finally signed its top scorer, in the nick of time for the playoff push. Ryan "Factor" O'Reilly is back! So why did general manager Greg Sherman look about as happy as if his pet goldfish just died?

Maybe it was because Sherman's NHL career also got buried under the avalanche of a $10 million deal he never saw coming. How can he possibly survive as the Avs' G.M. after this blunder?

"Sometimes," said Sherman, not smiling once during the five minutes he took to welcome O'Reilly back to the Avs, "the process takes a little longer than you would expect or would want."

Let's be honest: Colorado management wanted O'Reilly gone far away from Denver, with the team privately bad-mouthing both the player and his family. Now, the Avs are stuck with paying the popular 22-year-old center at least 40 percent more than a previous take-it-or-leave-it proposal, all because the Calgary Flames broke NHL etiquette and stuck Colorado with a hefty offer sheet.

"If that's the way they want to do their business," a sullen Sherman said, "that's their right."

The Avalanche matched the offer, but didn't look happy about it.

The bottom line: Dilly-dallying instead of closing a trade to bring a top four defenseman to Colorado in return for O'Reilly, the Avalanche let their payroll structure be set by a general manager in Calgary, of all people.

Once the most feared franchise in the NHL, the Avs now could, and maybe should, be the laughingstock of hockey.

....

Last edited by Frenchy: 03-01-2013 at 07:11 PM.
Reason: It's against the rule to post a full article

The Avalanche have center Ryan O'Reilly back in the fold (AP)
Great news! The Avalanche finally signed its top scorer, in the nick of time for the playoff push. Ryan "Factor" O'Reilly is back! So why did general manager Greg Sherman look about as happy as if his pet goldfish just died?

Maybe it was because Sherman's NHL career also got buried under the avalanche of a $10 million deal he never saw coming. How can he possibly survive as the Avs' G.M. after this blunder?

"Sometimes," said Sherman, not smiling once during the five minutes he took to welcome O'Reilly back to the Avs, "the process takes a little longer than you would expect or would want."

Let's be honest: Colorado management wanted O'Reilly gone far away from Denver, with the team privately bad-mouthing both the player and his family. Now, the Avs are stuck with paying the popular 22-year-old center at least 40 percent more than a previous take-it-or-leave-it proposal, all because the Calgary Flames broke NHL etiquette and stuck Colorado with a hefty offer sheet.

"If that's the way they want to do their business," a sullen Sherman said, "that's their right."

The Avalanche matched the offer, but didn't look happy about it.

The bottom line: Dilly-dallying instead of closing a trade to bring a top four defenseman to Colorado in return for O'Reilly, the Avalanche let their payroll structure be set by a general manager in Calgary, of all people.

Once the most feared franchise in the NHL, the Avs now could, and maybe should, be the laughingstock of hockey.

...

Great article by Kiszla... Unfortunatelly too many blinded fans around here can't take the truth.

Last edited by Frenchy: 03-01-2013 at 07:12 PM.
Reason: see previous quote

Look, I'd be happy with Sherman, if only he lead on the front foot, rather than just reacted to things around him. Examples:-

+ Understand the clubs position, and make changes in the coaching ranks BEFORE we languish year after year.
+ Facilitate the re-signing of your young up and coming stars, before you have to dreadfully over pay for them.
+ Don't let guys like Fleishmann, Mueller & others walk for nothing. It's dumb.
+ Communicate with players, fans and player managers, for all that's good in the world ! Geez.

etc etc etc...

Everything Sherman touches is addressed far too late and tardily. It will cost him his job. THAT'S why he appeared so unhappy at the meeting yesterday.

Once AGAIN he missed the boat, and it has cost his bosses millions more than they needed to spend. I have no doubts O'Reilly would have signed for 4 odd per for 3-4 years.